


Lost Control

by themidgardiansongstress



Series: Strange Lovers [1]
Category: Game Grumps, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Implied/Referenced Suicide, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-11-18 07:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11286258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themidgardiansongstress/pseuds/themidgardiansongstress
Summary: The grumps have a new editor! Mark, Dan, Arin, and Suzy are all dating them! But there's trouble in paradise. Ever since that grumps session, Dan hasn't been acting like himself. He's almost evil. And he's not the only one acting out of character either...Contains Memory 1: L.D. AvidanContains Memory 2: M.E. Fishbach





	1. Prelude: Are They Being Seduced By Wizards?

“[...] the last two times I’ve been to the Ren Faire, the girl I was dating broke up with me.”-Dan Avidan, 2017

_ The tent flaps flutter in the breeze. The faire goers take no notice of the it as Arin and Ani lead their lovers into it. There is a story to be exorcised in this tent. A story trapped between four bodies. _

_ Come closer, and listen.  _

_ “Lay him down on your side.” Ani asks of Arin. Arin lies Dan down on one of the mats already set out within the tent. He’s too shaken to say anything else, Dan already too far gone to protest. Arin stares at the deep black bruises on Dan’s temples, and closes his eyes. He reached out, ready to take Ani’s hand and be done with what had occurred.  _

_ Ani does the same with Mark, brushing back the black hair that had stuck to his head. She distantly notices that there is blood caking his hair together. She says nothing as she turns back to Arin.  _

_ “Place your hand on his heart,” She nods to Dan, putting her hand on the center of Mark’s chest. Arin mirrors her action, placing his hand on the cent of Dan’s chest. He reaches out to her with a free hand, and she takes it.  _

_ They both close their eyes, and orbs of light begin to grow around their hands.  _

_ Come closer, and listen. _


	2. Dantasmagoria: Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not those kind of red eyes.

__"He asked me to dance  
And we danced danced danced  
His eyes where red"  
-Red, Mirel Wagner

“I mean, it’s still Roberta Williams, so maybe that could be a good Ghoul Grumps game?” Ani tilted her strange laptop towards Dan, tapping the screen.

Dan turned to look at the game. “Phantasmagoria?” Dan’s eyebrow quirked upward. “Not the scariest game ever, but we might be able to get some good laughs out of it.”

Ani tapped at her laptop again, hitting the purchase button on the screen. Dan sat back, sighing softly, staring at the ceiling. 

“I can’t believe you’ve been here for three months already.” Dan turned back to Ani. 

“I mean, the time has gone by faster than I thought.” Ani shrugged, placing her laptop on the table, closing the thin panes of glass together. She turned back to Dan.

“It sounds corny, but it’s almost like it was only yesterday that you started editing here.” Dan sighed.

“Someone had to step in for Kevin.” She stood, sliding her laptop into her duffel bag.  “Come on. We have an early dinner with Arin and Mark.”

“It’s only six!” Dan protested, following her out of the grump space anyway.

“And you’ve been putting off recording episodes all week. We have a lot of ghoul grumps to get done.” She shook her head, climbing into Dan’s car. “Thank the gods we switched to a two video a day schedule.”

\---

The tea house had been a favorite of Ani since her arrival to Los Angeles. It was a small, hole in the wall kind of restaurant, with a menu almost entirely written in Chinese. There was a small english language menu available, and it was shiny with disuse. And it was one of the few places to get authentic boba and gua bao within fifty miles of the grump space.

Ani and Dan pulled up to the restaurant, walking out and meeting Mark and Arin in their typical booth.

Both men stood to kiss Ani on the cheek. Ani slid in, Mark wrapping an arm around her shoulder, while Dan and Arin held hands under the table. 

“How’s Suzy doing?” Ani asked Arin as menus and waters were spread around the table. 

“She’s good.” Arin smiled. “She’s been asking about when you’re going to visit us again.”

“She is so sweet.” Ani grinned.

“I’ll be sure to tell her that.” Arin nodded. 

\---

Dinner went on as expected. Words were exchanged around the table, boba was sipped, bao and hot pots were mixed and slurped. The night wound down around eight that night, Dan already nodding off from the fullness of his meal. 

“Come on buddy.” Ani slung Dan’s arm over her own shoulder, chuckling to herself. It was a difficult task, because Dan was a foot taller than her. Ani often cursed her diminished height at concerts and in planes, but in her romantic entanglements, height differences were ideal.

Dan folded into the car like a chair, practically collapsing into the seat. “Ani…”

Ani chuckled to herself, starting the car, having fished the keys out of Dan’s pocket earlier. “What is it, love?” She asked him.

“You’re so pretty.” He mumbled, reaching out to poke her cheek. 

“Man, you being drunk, or you being tired are really the same state, huh?” 

Dan shrugged, giggling softly. “Maybe just being around you makes me feel drunk.” 

“Sure Dan.” She pulled out of the restaurant parking lot.

\---

Ani’s duffel bag was resting on the edge of Dan’s bed. She moved it aside to make room for Dan and her to sleep. Dan managed to slide into his pajamas-shirtless and the boxers he was already wearing. Ani changed into hers-a pale white camisole and underwear.

Dan crawled under the covers, curling up into Ani’s side. He kissed her forehead. “Happy anniversary.” He mumbled.

“It's been a month, Dan.” She chuckled, brushing his hair out of his face. He persisted, wrapping his arms and legs around her like ivy covering a brick building. He’d done this frequently enough-it was a wonderful way to exploit the height difference between them. 

“So?” He giggled, rubbing his cheek against hers. “I’m still excited.” He slurred sleepily.

She sighed, patting his shoulder. “Get some sleep, Dan.”

He slipped another kiss on her forehead before slipping away into dreamlessness.

\---

“Alright, fucking, alright, let’s just,” Dan dragged a hand down his tired face. “Let’s just get one episode done. We’ll make it an hour long.” Dan said all of this without taking a breath, the words tumbling out of him without any variation in intonation. 

“That’s fair. It’s not like people will be clamoring for us to finish Phantasmagoria.” Ross shrugged, still chugging along after three hours of recording. That monday was the heaviest day for recording, and everyone in the office was feeling the exhaustion as the afternoon slipped into evening. 

Ani approached Dan with a clipboard, checking off a few boxes and taking notes. “Ross, Dan, you guys all set to record?” She asked.

“Ready as we can be,” Dan replied, rubbing his face again. “I’m so ready to sleep.”

“Want me to make you something to wake you up?” Ani asked. 

Dan nodded, tilting his head down towards her. She tucked her clipboard under her arm, reaching up to sink her hands into Dan’s hair. Her hands glowed briefly, dots of light trailing into the skin of Dan’s forehead. 

When he opened his eyes, there was a renewed energy to them, and he straightened up before hugging her. “Thanks, Ani.”

\---

Dan collapsed back against the couch. “Fucking finally!” Everyone had gone home for the day, leaving Dan and Ross behind in the grump space to finish recording.

“I don’t know if we can put that episode up. So much dialogue, and it goes almost nowhere!” Ross sighed, moving to shut everything off. 

“Whatever. At least we’re done here,” Dan stood up, shrugging on his leather jacket. “See ya, Ross.”

Ross merely nodded in response, turning back to their setup. Dan moved into the main grump space, ready to speed out of the office. 

Then, a whisper. Some strange thought coaxed Dan into turning around. 

There were very few windows, if any in the grump space. The ones that did exist were small, no bigger than a shoebox, and they were situated squarely up against the ceiling. 

Dan stared at the window, finally noticing the rapidly growing darkness in the window. Then the darkness shattered the window, shards of glass flying towards Dan. A single shard of glass sliced shallowly at Dan’s left hand. 

But it was enough. 

The darkness entered through the broken window, materializing as a cloud of black sand, floating through the air, making a straight line through the air towards the blood on Dan’s hand. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no.” Dan protested, waving his hand in a futile attempt to chase the persistent sand away. He gripped his wrist, turning his palm around to get a closer look at it. He watched helplessly as the sand entered his bloodstream, the veins in his arm pulsing with a pale white rot like mold growing on his arm. 

\---

“Dan?” Ross asked, bewildered. “Are you okay?”

The window above Dan’s head was fixed, no evidence that anything had taken place. What Ross instead saw was Dan kneeling on the floor, staring at his hand with a strange fascination, an eerie grin on his face.

Dan turned to look at Ross, and Ross was put off by the look in Dan’s eyes. “I’m great.”

\---

Ani sat at the dining room table in Dan’s apartment, editing late into the night. She looked up at the clock on the stove. Midnight. With a sigh, she shut off her laptop, closing it before standing up. 

And she stepped right into Dan’s form. She gasped in surprise, stepping back to grip the edge of the table. “Dan! I didn’t hear you come in!”

Dan stared at her with an intense, haunting look in his eyes. His whole body exuded menace, or even power. A promise that Ani wasn’t sure she wanted him to keep. “Dan?”

Without another word, he crushed his lips to hers, sweeping her body into his arms. Ani distantly recalled the last time she’d been handled so effortlessly like this, and she quickly suppressed the grief that welled at the thought. There was hardly any room left in her mind for anything other than Dan’s actions. 

He tossed her onto his bed like a rag doll, standing over her at the edge of the bed. And as desire began to cloud her mind, one rational observation intruded into her brain before it was chased away by the sight of Dan removing his clothes over her.

_ His eyes were red. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song quoted up top is definitely recommended music for this one.


	3. DANTASMAGORIA: White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't make Dan jealous...

Ani opened her eyes, and only felt an ache that encompassed her whole being. The dull pain that radiated within and without her had woken her, rousing her from a deep, troubling sleep. She looked over at Dan, his back turned from her. 

Carefully, Ani sat up, wincing as she placed undue pressure on her various bruises. She stood, leaning against the wall to support her steps. This was troubling in and of itself. Her healing typically took care of any bruises or soreness that came from their lovemaking. But today? 

Ani stood in the bathroom, gripping the edge of the sink. Already, she glimpsed the bite marks decorating her wrists. She looked up, staring into her own face. There were bite marks on her cheeks. There were bruises on her shoulders, her arms. She stepped back to look down at her legs, and there were indeed, bruises there too.

“Nice.” Ani looked up again. Dan was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, wearing an unreadable expression.

She straightened her back, staring at him. “We have to go to work.” She murmured, shutting the door to the bathroom. She sat back against the door, hugging herself before sinking to the floor, covering her mouth with her hands. She took a shaky breath, then coughed slightly. There was a strange tickle in her throat, and she hoped beyond hope that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

\---

It was thankfully a cool day, and the various bruises and cuts on her body were well hidden under her long sleeved dress. The facial bite marks were much more difficult to hide, and Dan’s insistence that she keep them didn’t make it any easier to hide. She sighed, wrapping a light scarf around her neck. 

She set her cup of coffee on the table, taking a seat. “Alright, what do we have on the table for today?”

Arin looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, planning on talking about the face bruises she sported later. He noted the cocksure attitude Dan sat with, a sense of unease and arousal filling the air. “Well, we’ve got steam train to record, so that’ll take Dan and Ross until lunch. Ive got some animation to work on with Barry, Brian has to mix some stuff. Suzy is gonna record KKG in the other recording room.”

“Good.” Ani looked down, nodding to herself. “Okay, well, to work.” She tucked her clipboard under her arm, clapping twice sharply.

The grumps dispersed, and everyone wandered off to their respective tasks. Dan lingered to watch Arin approach Ani, staring at them both with a glare that could have peeled paint. He switched back to his happy self as Ross called his attention, and the disappeared into a recording room. 

“Ani, can I-” Arin began. 

“Look, I know. It looks bad, but Dan got overeager last night. I don’t know what got into him.” She sighed, rubbing her cheek. “I’m fine.” She was lying, of course.

\---

“So, uh, Dan.” Ross turned to Dan between episodes. “You and Ani get frisky last night?”

Dan glared at Ross, and Ross found himself hoping those wouldn’t be his last words. “Yes. Don’t think about it any more than that. You know Ani’s mine.” 

Ross sat back. “Dan, she’s dating three other dudes and one girl. And...you shouldn’t be so jealous.”

Dan humphed.

\---

They finished recording, stepping out of the room. They had had a good recording sesh, and Dan was riding the high of getting into that mental space.

Arin and Ani stood to the side, watching something on Ani’s laptop. His arm around Ani’s shoulder was like a red hot poker against Dan’s eyes. With as much icy calm as he could muster, he called her name. “Anicalandra.”

Ani’s eyes flickered up to him, drawn in by the sheer force of anger in his eyes. “Dan?” She stood, moving to walk over to him, but she didn’t reach him. With almost dizzying speed, Dan moved to her, slamming her up against the brick wall behind her. 

She gasped, and Dan took his chance to kiss her forcefully, making her bones turn to jello. His hips snapped against hers and she louldy moaned, her skin glowing with arousal. He yanked her head back by the hair, biting ont her neck. After leaving her with a new crop of dark, painful looking bruises, he latched onto her neck, biting down harder and harder. 

Then he broke the skin.

Ani’s eyes shot open, and her hand instinctively went to sink into the back of his hair. He pulled away with bloodied lips and pulled her wrist up to mouth level. He sank his teeth into the soft skin there, breaking until a thin line of blood came from her. After he drank a moment he pulled away, letting her slide down the wall to the floor. 

She stared at him with a cocktail of confusion, arousal, and fear in her eyes. He turned to Arin. “Come on. We have to record.” 

When he turned his head, Ani saw a flash, a brief image imposed on Dan’s face-a pair of ruby black horns spiraling from his temples before he returned to normal. 

Arin was terrified of upsetting Dan. He stood, following Dan into the recording room. He turned back to Ani, gesturing in a spiral motion around his temples before pointing to Ani. 

He’d seen the horns as well.


	4. Dantasmagoria-Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some light gore in this chapter, but just at the beginning.

“A couple months ago, I wouldn’t have believed all this.” Suzy bit her lip, crossing her arms worriedly. Mimi bumped her head up against Suzy’s leg, and she bent down to scoop the cat up for a small amount of comfort.

“I almost wish I didn’t believe this,” Ani clasped her hands in front of her face. “I wish that I could feign ignorance of all this like I did before I died.”

Arin looked between the two, his leg bouncing up and down under the table. “Then what do we do about it? It’s not like we can ignore the fucking horns growing out of Dan’s head.”

“And the whole blood drinking thing,” Ani mumbled, rubbing the scar on her neck where Dan had bitten down on her. She glanced at the similar mark on her wrist, biting her lip. “I just hope it isn’t what I think it is.”

Arin looked up at her. “You said he was dead. You said you watched him die.”

“You cannot kill fear, Arin.” Dan said. 

The three of them turned to the sound of his voice, Arin and Ani standing up from where they sat at the table.

“It just comes back.” Dan said smoothly, clawed fingers trailing across the table, his gait fluid and stalking. There were two horns curling from his head, streaked with blood. They’d erupted from his head without proper time to grow-Ani could tell this much. “It grows in its absence and comes back when you least expect it.”

“Dan. Danny. Stop this.” Ani began. Dan stood before her, his once warm eyes icy.

“You know what will make this stop,” Dan began. He reached out to her, and Ani stepped back from his touch. Dan sighed, turning to Suzy and Arin. Then he narrowed his eyes at the two of them, his eyes clouding over, his eyes turning completely white. His voice dipped low, mangled. “A death awaits you at the crossroads, Suzanne Berhow.” He looked down at Arin tilting his head at him curiously. “Stop denying your own power, Arin.” Arin and Suzy both went pale, Arin’s hand finding Suzy’s, his fingers squeezing hers tightly.

Ani stared at him. “Enough. Why did you come here, Dan?” She asked, standing in his line of sight.

Dan looked down at Ani. He dragged a single sharp nail down her neck, Ani trembling despite herself. “You know what he needs.” He murmured in a shaky voice.

Ani looked up at him, seeing his eyes return to their former warmth. “Dan…”

Dan produced a long, machete like sword from out of nowhere, pressing it into Ani’s hand. She took it and carefully made a shallow cut along her palm, holding it out to Dan as her golden blood dripped from the cut. Dan took her hand and fell to his knees before her, his cold lips closing over the wound, taking in her blood. 

Ani looked away, her hand shaking. Dan turned her hand over in his hands, biting into the space between her thumb and pointer finger. Ani slid down the wall she was leaning against, a short sob escaping her. Dan looked up at her then, a thin trail of gold and crimson blood staining his lips. His eyes were hazy, one white eye and one normal eye staring at her. Tears streamed from both eyes. 

Then he disappeared. Ani, Arin, and Suzy stared at the spot where he was standing, staring at Ani. 

Ani closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. With unbelievable calmness, she turned to Arin and Suyz. “So. Demon Dan.” She sighed. “What are his weaknesses?”

\---

Ani walked out of the grocery store, arms heavy with  ingredients before she climbed into the car with Suzy. “Church next?” Suzy asked as she started the car.

Ani set the bags down around her feet as she sat. “Church.”

\---

The wave of warmth fell from the oven as she took the cookies out. Ani waved the heat away impatiently. Suzy poured a bottle of clear liquid into a glass jar of milk, sealing it shut. Ani placed several cookies on a plate. Suzy passed her the jar of milk, Arin and her both moving to hug Ani. “Good luck.” Suzy whispered into her hair.

\---

“Have a good night, Ani.” Barry called as he slid his laptop into his backpack. 

Ani just nodded at him, looking up. “Take care, Barry.” 

Barry noted to empty look in her eyes, but he said nothing as he left the grump space. At last, Ani was alone. 

She stood, closing her eyes. She opened them, looking at a clock on the wall. 11:30pm. She didn’t have much time.

\---

She set the cookies on the table, opening the jar of milk. She sat back, staring at the door to the grumps space, waiting.

At some point, she nodded off. Her head dipped for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut. When she looked back up at the air before her, Dan was seated across from her. “Really? I expected more from you, Anicalandra.”

“Like what?” She sighed. “You expected a fight?” She gestured to the cookies. “I’ve fought my whole life. I want peace.” 

Dan narrowed his eyes at her, then the scent of cookies wafted up to him, and he melted. “Oh, Anicalandra, these smell absolutely delightful.”

Ani waved off how very un-Dan like that phrase sounded. “Go ahead. I made them special for you.” She murmured. Dan grabbed a cookie, sinking his teeth into a cookie.

“Well.” He looked to the jar of milk on the table, grinning. “You can’t have cookies without milk.” He took a hearty swig of the milk, bringing a cookie to his lips. As the milk settled into his stomach, his face fell, staring at Ani.

“How’s that milk taste?” She asked emotionlessly.

“What-” Dan coughed, standing up. “What have you done to me?” He stumbled back as Ani stood. 

“I’m sorry.” She walked toward him, taking him by the shoulders and leading him to a rug laid out on the grump space. She kicked it away, revealing a pentagram like circle on the floor. It glowed as she moved to lay Dan down in the circle. Cords of light lifted from the edges of the circle, connected over Dan and holding him down. He didn’t fight back, couldn’t, through the deluge of holy water in his stomach, the demon in his body revolting against it.

Dan stared up at Ani, his eyes clouding over until they were completely white, with a tinge of black swirling into them. “You are stronger than he thought. My king is going to delight in having you by his side.” 

“So you’re a grunt man for your king?” She asked, twirling her hands together as energy shifted between them. 

“You expected this?” He asked.

“Of course. What king wouldn’t want a woman with a claim to two kingdoms?  
Dan’s eyes widened. “Two kingdoms?” 

Ani clapped her hands together, and Dan arched his back off the ground, screaming in pain. Her magic moved through him, forcing the demon out of Dan. It swirled out of him in a mass of black and white smoke, darting to the door, escaping out into the night. 

Ani looked down at Dan, his body lax and spent. She couldn’t help but notice that it was exactly what he looked like after they had sex. Ani sighed, bending down and picking up Dan carefully in her arms.

A thin trail of blood was leaking from his eyes and nose, his temple bloodied where the horns had grown out of his head.

\---

Ani placed him carefully in the passenger seat, moving over to start the car. She looked up into the rearview window at the entrance to the grump space. In the shadow of the doorway, she could have sworn that she saw a pair of glowing golden eyes staring at her from the darkness. 

She sighed, and started the car.


	5. Interlude: The Dark Mark Begins

Arin gasped, his body going slack, sweat making his shirt stick to his skin. “I-I can’t do this, Ani. It’s too much.” 

“We have to do this, Arin. Getting the story out of us, clearing away the memories robs them of their power.” She explained, squeezing his hand. “Mark’s memories won’t be as much of a strain on you.”

Arin nodded, noticing the light sheen of bronze sweat beginning to bead on her forehead as she turned to Mark. She closed her eyes, and focused on how it all began. How Mark fell to the evil lusting after Ani.


	6. Darkiplier-There Is No Sun(Light)

The needle sank in and came back out, Ani tying the string closed. “Alright. Let’s clean the wound and bandage him up.” Ani stepped back, machines beeping, letting her know that Dan’s vitals were steady. 

\---

Ani emerged from her rudimentary operating room, Arin standing up as she came out. She took off her white latex gloves with snap, tossing them in a biohazard bin sitting on the wall.

“Is-” Arin began.

“He’ll be fine. The only injuries he sustained were the horns growing out of his skull. It wasn’t hard to remove, but he’ll have a hell of a migraine when he wakes up.”

Arin frowned, not liking the implication that Dan would be in pain after what he’d already suffered through. “But, will he be okay?”

“Give him two days and he’ll be able to go back to doing grumps, if not faster.” She sighed. “I’ll have to make him a poultice or something for the bruises, but it will take some time.”

Ani wheeled Dan out of the OR on a clean bed, a small drip attached to his arm, floating in the air behind them. She wheeled him into a large elevator, hitting a few buttons as Arin walked in with her. 

“So, question,” He asked. “But where the fuck did you get a medical license?”

She looked at him. “Oh, I don’t have one. But, I know a lot about medicine, and I’ve healed myself enough to know what the body needs.” She replied. “I’ve read Gray’s Anatomy  cover to cover. Plus, having my powers help.”

He nodded. “So, could you have healed him with your magic?”

She shook her head. “No, not with the horns. My magic couldn’t touch it. But hey, nothing a bone drill can’t fix. It’s a shame about his hairline though.” She sighed. “Hair grows back, but still.”

\---

Ani stared at the computer screen, her eyes glazed over with exhaustion. “Ani?” Ani did not look up, staring at the audio channel on the screen. “Ani.” A hand came down on her shoulder, and Ani just about jumped out of her chair. 

“Fuck! Mark!” She stared at him, holding her chest. “You scared me.” She sighed, eventually calming down.

“You seemed tense,” He pulled a chair up to her. “How are you doing?”

“Well, Dan is recovering pretty well.” She sighed. “There was some weirdness because his blood turned white for a second, though, but it was okay after I gave him those antibiotics.”

Mark rubbed her shoulder. “Have you spent one night away from him since the exorcism?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been so worried. I can’t, I even worry that he’ll need me when I’m here.” 

“You need a night off. Just one. Come on. The theater near my house is doing a vampire movie marathon for the anniversary of that eighties vampire movie, uh..”

“Lost Boys. Came out the year I was born.” She paused. “Wait, how old am I?”

“And afterwards, we can get dinner at that italian place you think is run by a vampire mafia.”

“I’m telling you, it’s the perfect front! What other cuisine uses that much garlic?”

“See? You’re already loosening up. Come on. You can go out for one night.”  
“I will not!”

\---

“Ani, please go out tonight.” Dan asked her as she checked his IV drip again.

“What?”

“Look, I’ll be fine. My horns have healed up, I’m gonna be off this IV drip tomorrow and back to grumps. You’ll be okay.” Dan replied. 

“Are you sure?” She asked. 

Dan gave her a pointed, weary look.

\---

“This dress is too much, maybe.” Ani looked down at her near red carpet black and white dress. A string of sapphires glittered in her hair, arranged around her crown braid. 

“Then we’ll be too much together.” Mark sighed, looking down at his suit. “I almost went with a tuxedo, but that seemed too douchebaggy.” he adjusted the matching blue sapphire tie pin placed on his red tie. 

“Damn it, I would have ripped tha tuxedo right off you.” She sighed, shaking her head as they walked into the theater. “Let’s just get through this without attracting too much attention.”

\---

This was a decidedly old fashioned movie theater-so interestingly enough, Ani and Mark fit right in with their opera ready outfits. They moved to their seats, right up in the seats before the orchestra pit. A lavish couch provided their seating, a kind of tea cup cut so that they could slide into their seats. 

Ani laid back, sighing. “I’m gonna fall asleep.”

“You’re not, you need to stay up and explain Interview With A Vampire to me.”

“Sad gay vampires. And Kirsten Dunst is there.” She replied, already mumbling to herself. Before the titular interview even started, she was already falling asleep on Mark’s shoulder. He lounged back, letting her rest against him. 

\---

She dreamed of things she always dreamed about-pale hands grasping at her clothes, sharp, bony fingers poking at her. Only this time, she could not fight back. She felt examined, pursued, like she was a prize pig being assessed at a county fair.

\---

The waking world pulled her back like a mercy when the lights came on in the theater. She sat up, blinking. Mark was sufficiently startled, tensing behind her. “Welcome back.” He chuckled, looking at her. 

“Oh, I slept right through that, huh?” She stretched, yawning and rubbing her eyes, forgetting that she was wearing eyeliner. She smudged it up across her eyelid, and sighed. She took a makeup wipe out of her purse, wiping it across her eyelids. 

“Yeah. Come on. There’s a guy selling that corn street food you like on the corner outside.”

Before the word corn finished coming out of his mouth, Ani was up and bolting for the door, her high heels clacking quickly like an angry crab.

\---

“Oh my god, oh my god.” She closed her eyes, taking the first spooonful of elote en vaso. “Deverias estar muy orgullosa, senora.” She said to the street vendor, handing her a crips five dollar bill to pay for their elotes.

“Ay, muchas gracias, senora!” The woman replied happily, stuffing the bill into a hidden money box under her cart. When her back was turned, Ani slipped a crisp fifty dollar bill into the tip jar the woman had.

“Holy shit, Ani.” He exclaimed as they walked off. Mark was expertly balancing two glass bottles of mexican coke in his arms along with his elote en vaso. Ani plucked a coke bottle out of his arms. She pressed her thumb up against the bottle cap, popping it off against the side of the building, and it fell right back into her open palm. “Fifty dollars?”

“What? I always try to support street vendors when I can. When I was living on my own, my income came from street food sales and palm readings.” She shrugged, taking a long sip from her coke. 

They sat back in their couch as the next movie started, chowing down as quickly as they could before the theater ushers noticed. 

\---

“Okay, we have to dress up as the Lost Boys gang for halloween.” Ani whispered as the movie marched along.

“I’ll be the guy with the luscious black hair. He’s swarthy!” Mark grinned at her.

“I’ll be David.” She grinned. “I look good with a mullet.”

“Really? Not Star?” 

“Nah, Dan can be Star. He’s already got the hair.” Ani chuckled. 

“He sure the fuck does.” Mark grinned. “I’m gonna go the bathroom. Keep my seat warm?”

Ani stretched dramatically across the couch. “Always.” She grinned with a twinkle in her eye.

\---

The time slipped away from Ani, and before she knew it, the movie was already over. She sat up, looking for Mark. He hadn’t come back from the bathroom, and now she was getting worried. 

The lights blinked out around her, the screen going dark. She looked back, and felt an icy, hot chill washing through her,freezing her in place while her heart became increasingly plangent in her chest.

Her vision shrank to a pinhole, and she heard a sharp gasp echoing around her. A loud stretching and creaking sound came from around her, like some ancient thing forcing its way into new skin. 

For a second, she could have sworn that she saw Mark, and then, she was thrown forward into the darkness.

She hit the ground harshly, and she gasped, arching off the ground in pain. She slowly sat up, swearing softly to herself. She looked around herself, blinking quickly. Then a phantom limb wrapped around her, a pair of icy lips pressing against her ear. 

“Did you miss me?”


	7. Darkiplier-(Just A Man With No) Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end the end is not the end the is not the end the end is not the end

“You were cruel to me-pushing me out of your darling Daniel with holy water.” The figure practically slithered out from behind her, standing before Ani. She watched him, but couldn’t focus her gaze on him. His image was blanked out-like a black and white photo, refracting planes of red and blue light coming off him, rearranging as she blinked.

“So you’re the same demon?” She asked, her heartbeat punping in her own ears, barel louder than the high pitched keening sound that permeated his being.

He chuckled, adjusting his suit. “When you want something done right, do it yourself.”

She squared up the demon as he stepped forward, assessing her. “Pitch told me that staring at you was like staring into the sun.” He grinned. “You are more brilliant than he told me.”  She looked away, closing her eyes. And yet, his image still appeared in the darkness of her closed eyelids. “You cannot escape me, Anicalandra.”

She opened her eyes, staring at him. “What do you want? If not my body, then my mind. If not my mind, then…”

“Do you have any idea of what use you could be to me? With your claim, I could grow my army two fold, nearly three fold.” His eyes drifted off as he thought. “With the hatred in the hearts of the Jotnar, with the fertiility of the light elves…”

Ani had to scoff at that. She had to. It was masking her terror. “And yet you have nothing that you could offer me.”

Darkiplier set her with a hard stare. “Nothing I could offer you?”

He reached towards her with a tensed, angry hand, and she was plunged into darkness again.

\---

“You’ve invited darkness into your heart before, haven’t you?” Dark’s voice whispered to her. “Loki, Eric.They were hardly angels, weren’t they. And MIcheal….Oh, Micheal.”

“Shut up!” She screamed, her voice practically going nowhere. 

“Yes, Anicalandra. Let the hatred burn hotter within you, let it harden your heart into stone!”

She pushed him out of her head, holding her hands over her hears. Then, she was sitting on a table. She opened her eyes, staring at Dark from across a dinner table, a bottle of indeterminate wine on the table. She couldn’t identify the food on her plate or on Dark’s plate, but she could only see that it was a lump of bloody something. 

“Pitch promised that you would let me in. I’m so tired of giving my vessels a choice.” He tightened his fists, and Ani could could see it-the roiling rage bubbling beneath his cold exterior. The devil burned cold, of course. Wasn’t Lucifer himself imprisoned in a lake of ice?

“If dinner is what you want, then I can provide. If a kingdom is what you want, I can provide. If children is what yo-”

“Stop.” She spoke softly.

“I can give you anything.” He murmured, the first kindness she had seen in him. For a moment, she could see the old Mark there. A thought struck her-could the humanity in Mark be affecting the demon that had taken him over?

“I can give you my world. I would raze my kingdom and make you queen of ashes if you wished it.”

“I don’t want any of that.”

“Just come with me. Let me show what you are refusing.”

“You can’t make me go anywhere with you.” She boldly stated.

“If not there, then where? I can take you wherever you’d like to go,” All around her, places flashed by, her favorite places in the universe-the bifrost, the throne room in Jotunhiem, the meadow where she and Loki first knew each other in Alfhiem, the top of the grumpspace, the city around them in lights, and finally, Eric’s coffin room. 

And then, darkness, and Ani was laying down on an altar with her arms and legs strapped down to the unyielding stone below her. Dark stared down at her with expressionless eyes, holding a hypodermic needle so close to her eye that it brushed her eyelash slightly. “I can especially take you to the places you don’t want to go.”

She trembled, fear leaking into her heart as he brought the needle closer. And it was gone again, and his arms were wrapping around her in a ridiculous facsimile of comfort. She tore herself out of his grasp, breathing heavily, setting a hand on her chest. 

“What the hell was that? Is this how you think you’re going to make me fall in love with you?”

He laughed, a chilling laugh so cold it burned. “Love? You think I want you to love me? It would certainly be a benefit, but no. All I need is your body. Your claim. And your consent to both.”

She stared at him, aghast at what he was suggesting. He stepped towards her, and she could see his image flicker, screaming to the side whenever it did so, his rage barely contained within him. “There are endless possibilities waiitng for you.”

“Is that so? From the way you’ve been hyping it up, there’s only one outcome from me being with you.” He took her hand, and Ani could feel the evil in him, thrumming under his skin like a heartbeat. “You just need to let me in, it’s as simple as that.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Mark himsef tackled Dark, screaming in a way that she’d only ever heard Mark scream at video games.

\---

And just like that, they were standing outside the theater in a nearby alleyway, bathed in bright moonlight. 

And Mark was fistfighting his shadow self. Ani watched their fight, frozen, her vision flickering until she could no longer distinguish between the two Marks. At one point, one of them (she hoped to high Asgard it wasn’t the real Mark) pulled out a gun, aiming it at the other. Ani had the wherewithal to smack it from their hands, the two pummeling clones fighting away as if her intrusion had never existed. She looked down at the gun on the ground, scrambling to pick it up. 

At this, the two Marks separated, staring at her. They began speaking at the same time. A chorus of ‘shoot him, shoot him now echoed in her ears. She closed her eyes, shaking her head. 

When she opened her eyes, a solution crystallized in her mind with startling clarity. She pointed the gun to her own head, watching the reaction of the Marks carefully. They were both stunned, but only one of them moved forward to help her. The Mark to the left of her spoke first. “Ani, please don’t, I care about you so much. Ani, just give me the gun okay? We can go home, we can talk about this.”

She looked at the Mark on the right, and the left Mark paused. “If you’re going to kill yourself to get out of this, then go with him. I’d rather know that you were alive with someone else than dead and gone.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

And pulled the trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys, everything'll be okay. Remember the prelude/interlude?


	8. Darkiplier-(Full) Darkness

Ani opened her eyes, shaking harshly. The gun had fired up into the air, her arm forced straight up. Her head was crushed into his chest, and she looked up at him. “Oh gods, Mark.” She started crumpling, falling to her knees. Mark went down with her, holding her tightly to his chest. 

“Ani, are you okay?”

“Are you okay, Ani?” She sang to herself before looking up at him. “I’m okay.” She looked over at Dark as he stood there. “Alright.” She stood, staring at Dark. “If you won’t leave, then I want some answers.”  
He stared at her in shock. “You would make demands of your future husband?”

She bristled at that, her magic flying at him like a million angry fireflies. Dark’s eyes widened as she hoisted him up into the air, her magic tightening around him. Her hair floated slightly in the air, her eyes and skin glowing like the moon. She stared at him, her gaze unblinking as her magic began squeezing the blood from Dark.

Dark screamed in pain, his face contorting in agony as blackish white blood dripped from his form. 

“Ani…”

Ani looked down at Mark as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mark, if I don’t end this now, we’ll never know peace.”

“There has to be another way. Look at him, Ani.” They both looked on as Darkiplier writhed in the air, his mouth open in a silent scream.

She sighed, closing her eyes. “Of course there is.” She released Darkiplier, taking Mark’s hand as they both walked away. 

Darkiplier stood, shaking and bleeding. “Come back here, Anicalandra!” He shouted after her. “You cannot walk away from me!”

“Keep walking, Mark.” She whispered to him. “Keep your eyes straight ahead. Never run, and never look back.” 

“Like Orpheus.” He mumbled as they walked away from Darkiplier. 

“No. Like Daenerys.”

\---

Mark and Ani stumbled into Arin’s house, walking to the bedroom where Dan was. Mark collapsed into a nearby loveseat, holding his face in his hands. Ani moved to Dan, taking his hand. 

Dan turned towards her in his sleep, a small smile on his face. Ani merely lay down on the bed next to him, sighing heavily. Mark stood, shambling over and eventually joining them. 

Arin walked by on the way to his own bedroom, looking in. When morning came, he’d ask Ani what had happened.

\---

Ani was standing in Arin’s house. She walked into Arin’s room, resting a hand on his shoulder. Some of his magic wandered into his head, clouding and preparing him for a future he wasn’t ready for.

She moved to Suzy, and extended a long finger, her magic touching Suzy’s heart. A death was now growing in Suzy’s heart.

Ani moved to Dan and Mark, laying her hands down on their heads, the darkness they had let in seeped back into their minds, corrupting them from the inside. 

She stepped back, watching the effects of her touch taking hold. Emotionlessly, she moved to the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror, only to see Darkiplier staring back at her.

\---

The screaming woke Arin. He ran into the guest bedroom, staring in horror as Dan and Mark writhed in pain on the bed, like they were both experiencing a slow motion seizure. 

Ani awoke then, locking eyes with Arin. Then she turned and placed her hands on Dan and Mark’s shoulders, freezing them in time. 

“That bought us an hour.” She said to Arin, hoisting Mark up into her arms, Arin lifting Dan. 

“What do we have to do?” Arin asked with a remarkable calmness in his voice hiding his fear.

“We need to go to a crossroads. A concentration of magic, and exorcism performed under the noon sun and a new moon.”

\---

They drove quickly to the coordinates Ani had typed into her GPS. “Are you kidding me?” Arin asked as they approached the location of the crossroads. “The Renaissance festival?”

“It’ll be worth the heat stroke.” She mumbled, getting out of the car and hoisting Mark onto her shoulders.


	9. Postlude: Leftover Soul

_ Ani pulled her hand away from Mark’s chest. She looked up pat Arin. Though he looks tired, there was a strange energy in his eyes. “Arin?” She asked him, taking his hand. Arin blinked, looking at Ani, his eyes clearing.  _

_ “We should head home.” He murmured, moving to help Dan stand up. Both Dan and Mark were now awake, groggy and weak.  _

_ “Ani?” Mark mumbled, dried blood caking his hair together. “Did w-” _

_ “We’re going home, Mark.” She replied, helping him stand.  _

_ The four of them began walking away from the tent, the moonless night lightless above them, a sky cloudy from lack of stars.  _

_ Ani and Arin felt the encroaching darkness behind them, two demonic presences forming behind them. “Don’t-” _

_ “Look back. Don’t run. I know.” Arin murmured in reply to Ani. “I know.” _

_ \--- _

_ That night, Ani stirred awake, looking back at Dan and Arin and Mark, sleeping soundly in her massive bed. She stood, wandering away from them and moving to a hidden room in her library.  _

_ \--- _

_ The cellar door creaked open, awash with light from residual magic. Ani stood in the center of the room, and sat. She crossed her legs, opening her magic out for Pitch and the demon that had possessed Mark. _

_ Pitch materialized to her left, the smoky, ghost like figure of the demon appearing to her right.  _

_ As they both moved to take a hold of her, she phased her hand through their chests, pulling out their hearts. Pitch’s heart swirled with traces of burnished gold, and black muscle, pulsing slowly in her left hand. The demon’s heart was smoky, light as a feather in her hand, and yet incredibly dense. It didn’t pulse, it trembled, like it had forgotten how to beat.  _

_ Her magic sank into their hearts, shrinking them to the size of her thumbnail. She placed them inside the locket around her neck, looking down at the demons at her feet.  _

_ “So it’s true.” She murmured. “Steal the heart of a demon, and you control them.” _

_ “This isn’t what I had in mind when I read that theory.” Pitch glared up at her, golden eyes smoldering with anger and amusement.  _

_ “Be quiet.” She ordered him. _

_ Then she turned, sealing the cellar door behind her. _

_ \--- _

_ “Arin.” _

_ “Yeah?” _

_ “You know we have now secrets, right?” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ “I need to ask you to trust me.” _

_ “About what?” _

_ “There is one thing I must keep secret.” _

_ “What is it?” _

_ “Don’t go into my cellar. No matter what happens, don’t go into my cellar.” _

_ “I-alright. I trust you. Be careful.” _

_ “...” _


End file.
